IOWA CITY, Iowa — A few days before the 2023 Christmas holiday and their ensuing trip to Orlando for the Citrus Bowl, roughly a dozen Iowa defensive players met at Pullman Bar & Diner to blow off post-finals steam and dig into some of the best burgers in Iowa. Their dinner wasn’t planned, just some football players hanging out in downtown Iowa City for perhaps the last time together. Their conversation naturally shifted from upcoming opponent Tennessee to the 2024 season.
Eight of them had NFL options, while six could use an extra college season because of the 2020 pandemic. Advertisement One by one, they expressed how much they wanted to return. The Iowa defense led the nation in yards per play allowed for the second straight year and their collective belief was another year together could improve their draft stock while they made similar money through NIL as mid-to-late-round picks.
As a 10-win team and the defending Big Ten West Division champions with an advantageous schedule, the Hawkeyes harbored College Football Playoff hopes. Ultimately, everyone who could come back, save for All-American cornerback Cooper DeJean , chose to return. GO DEEPER What makes Iowa's defense so good? Fast forward to an October Saturday night in East Lansing, Mich.
One of the nation’s best defenses had its worst game in nearly a decade. The Hawkeyes missed tackles at an unusual rate, gave up more than 400 yards and failed to force a punt in a 32-20 loss to Michigan State . It was Iowa’.